Henry Okafor
THE mother of a seven-month-old baby declared dead at the hospital realised her little girl was still alive during her funeral. The baby was found to be still breathing inside a church in the city of San Pedro Sula, in the northern Hondurean department of Cortes.
The baby girl, Keilin Johanna Ortiz Montoya, had been admitted to the Rivas hospital in Villanueva with convulsions, diarrhoea, severe hydration and blistered skin caused by a bacterial infection on August 3.
Despite intensive treatment at the hospital’s paediatric unit, the baby was pronounced dead three days later on Monday morning, and the corresponding death certificate was reportedly issued.
The mother, Ivis Montoya, left the hospital with her supposedly dead baby in her arms and went to a cousin’s house.
She said: “I had no money to get home.”
After a candle lit vigil during the night the baby was then taken to the church in nearby Dos Caminos for the funeral.
Ms Montoya said that they placed her daughter’s body on a chair in the church as: “We had no money for a coffin.”
It was at this point that the mother noticed the little Keilin was still breathing.
Reluctant to return to the hospital that had declared her baby dead, she rushed to a local clinic.
Here medical staff administered the baby some medicine, a woman’s support group persuaded her to take the baby back to the pediatric unit, report local media.
The baby girl was immediately taken to an intensive care unit.
The head of the hospital’s Paediatric Department, Elba Campos, said that the incident was being investigated, but that it was too early to reach any conclusions.
Keilin is said to be in a serious condition.
